Pine Valley To Go Up

Pine Trees To Fall

April 09, 1998|By Ken O'Brien. Special to the Tribune.

The Lockport City Council, despite objections from residents of a nearby subdivision, voted Wednesday night in favor of plans for a new subdivision that will result in hundreds of pine trees being cut down.

In a 7-0 vote, the council agreed to accept a preliminary plan for the 35-acre Pine Valley subdivision. The development is just south of the Meadow Ridge subdivision and west of Briggs Street.

The developer, Lockport-based Professional Investment Group, plans to build 63 single-family homes and 64 town homes, and develop commercial properties on 1.6 acres of the subdivision.

But an amended annexation agreement must still be approved and the land must still be rezoned. The City Council scheduled a public hearing on those issues for April 29. A vote on the final plat is still months away.

After the Lockport Plan Commission endorsed the proposed subdivision on March 10, Meadow Ridge residents rallied against it, as more than 100 people signed a petition objecting to commercial properties being developed in a residential area.

They also wanted to save an area of pines that abuts their subdivision. The trees cover about 150 feet from the north to the south and about 700 feet from the east to the west.

Before the vote Wednesday night, city officials announced that the developer had agreed to some changes in the subdivision after meeting with some homeowners and city officials.

Originally, Mayor Frank Mitchell persuaded the developer to leave 15 feet of the trees as a "conservation easement." Now, a 25-foot section, to be located on six lots in the new subdivision, will remain and a covenant will be put in the annexation agreement to bar removal of those trees, said city attorney Ron Caneva.

The developer, at the request of the homeowners, also agreed to restrict some types of businesses on the commercial site, said city planner Doug Blocker. Those include auto repair shops, bars and liquor stores, a hotel or motel, a tattoo parlor and a commercial greenhouse.

But at the developer's request, eight types covered under a tentative agreement with the homeowners were added during a city committee meeting Wednesday afternoon, Blocker said. Those types include a nursing home, a shopping center, catering facilities and a driveup facility, which could include fast-food stores.

"We have been very amenable to addressing their issues," consultant Dennis Tonelli said on behalf of the developer.

"I'm baffled because it has always been my thought that the City Council would represent the will of its citizens," said homeowner spokesman Jared Hedman, who was angry that the eight types were added Wednesday.

"When 80 (percent) to 90 percent of the residents in the subdivision say they are opposed to the destruction of the trees and the commercial zoning, the city basically ignores it," Hedman said.

Ald. Randy Martin, who represents the ward that includes Meadow Ridge, said he and Ald. Dev Trivedi, the other 4th Ward alderman, did their best to address residents' concerns. Both aldermen expressed reservations about the development last month.

"We were able to protect 25 feet of trees and the wildlife," Martin said. "Once this is built out, it will be an $18 million development and that will mean hundreds of thousands of new tax dollars for Taft School, which is a major bonus for the school."